Mecanoo’s building consists of two elongated volumes divided by a long well of stairs separated from the library itself, which fans out in Aaltoesque fashion. The all but hermetic black brick slab contains services; the second slab housing all other library facilities has a head elevation of bright blue enamelled glass, yet is dominated by the curved copper-clad front. On the ground floor this portion is almost all glass and contains a reading room cum café, an information centre and the entrance and book issue desk, marked by a void with a spectacular concrete ‘viewing-island’. The wealth of materials, forms and details add up to a heterogeneous building.